Sliding-roof arrangements for motor vehicles are commonly known and are used in a wide variety of configurations and designs. For example, the DE 41 00 677 A1 has disclosed a hardtop roof for a vehicle, which is retractable over several positions between a coupé position terminating the passenger compartment and a flipped-open position, in which the roof is housed in the rearward top of the vehicle. With this arrangement the roof is divided into several sections, i.e., a forward fixed panel, an intermediate panel and a rearward panel, wherein the intermediate panel is telescopically retractable into the rearward panel. In a preferred design, the roof is movable through or over four different positions. The multi-section design of such a hardtop roof requires a correspondingly complex actuating and sliding mechanism which therefore is correspondingly cost-intensive and installation-intensive.
It is desirable to provide a highly cost-effective, weight-saving, low-maintenance and, at the same time, component-tolerance-eliminating locking device for a sliding-roof as well as a corresponding sliding-roof arrangement. In addition, it is desirable to provide the locking device with a construction that is as simple and reliable as possible and which also saves space. Furthermore, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.